TAMIU faces tall task against No. 2 LCU

By Zach Davis, Laredo Morning Times
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February 2, 2018

Photo: Danny Zaragoza /Laredo Morning Times File

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TAMIU junior guard Tantashea Giger has two straight double-doubles as the Dustdevils head to St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s this week looking to avoid two losses that would claim the worst season in schoolTAMIU junior guard Tantashea Giger has two straight double-doubles as the Dustdevils head to St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s this week looking to avoid two losses that would claim the worst season in school history and tie the program’s longest losing streak.

Completing the first half of Heartland Conference play last week, the Dustdevils women’s basketball team is still without a league win. Now the group heads into the second half trying to get some momentum going.

That road begins Saturday with the toughest team they’ll play all year. TAMIU squares off with No. 2 Lubbock Christian Saturday at 1 p.m. attempting to pull off one of the biggest upsets this season in any conference.

"I think we have to score," Dustdevils head coach Jeff Caha said. "Going back and watching the last time we played them, when they opened it up on us in the second quarter to go up 14 in the half, we got a little lazy defensively and gave up on some things but we also didn’t score. We had like seven turnovers and four missed shots in like 11 possessions. We can’t have a drought like that, and if we do have a drought like that, it can’t be turnovers.”

TAMIU will have its work cut out for it even with just only one game this week to prepare for. Lubbock Christian is playing as well as anyone in the country as the 2015-16 national champions are up to No. 2 in the polls. LCU is 20-1 this year with their lone loss coming to No. 1 Ashland in a neutral-site game in San Antonio in late November.

Meanwhile, Lubbock keeps rolling through the Heartland Conference. The Lady Chaps are 9-0 with an average margin of victory of more than 20 points per game. Over its four-year history, the school is 54-7 against the rest of the Heartland.

In their previous outing in Lubbock, TAMIU lost 73-53 on Jan. 4. They actually played the Lady Chaps closer than most have as the roster won by more than 30 points in three of its other previous four outings. But recently, lineups have started to reel LCU in a bit. The group won by 14 against Oklahoma Christian two weeks ago before coming up with wins of nine and eight points last week against Newman and Arkansas-Fort Smith, respectively. They did rebound with a big win Thursday night, however, blowing out St. Mary’s in San Antonio, 64-39.

"They’re tough because they don’t make many mistakes. They’re good," Caha said. "We are going to try and score and open it up on them as much as we can, and we can’t give up open shots. If we are where we’re supposed to be and they whack out shots from 3 then I’ll live with that all day. But if we just stand and watch them with no effort in closing out, I’ll have a hard time with that. The worst in-game shooter can make four or five out of 10 wide open.

“To our credit, the last time we played them we had one of our best shooting nights, we just had a drought that really ended the game in the second quarter. We got back to within 10 then they opened it up after we had some bad minutes. If we can go into halftime at single digits, I think that will be big for us. I think that’s possible, I really do."

Meanwhile, while Lubbock keeps streaking, TAMIU continues to slide. The Dustdevils (2-19) are off to their worst start ever in Heartland Conference play at 0-7 while the team is also riding its longest losing streak of all-time in a single season at 11 games.

Fortunately, the squad received some good news in the form of point guard Ashley Perez. The junior missed last week’s game with a tear in her planter fascia, and her status for the remainder of the season depended on whether it was just a partial tear or a full one. MRI results this week revealed that the injury "wasn’t as bad as initially what we thought," according to Caha, although her official timeline for return is still not yet known.

That still leaves the team without Perez against LCU however, trying to replace the player who ranks second in the Heartland Conference in both assists per game (4.8) and assist/turnover ratio (1.8). Without her against St. Edward’s last Saturday, the Dustdevils committed 25 turnovers — the second-most of any game this season. Replacing Perez, junior Renee Contreras and sophomore Jaden Gonzales had a combined two points on 1 of 10 shooting with nine turnovers in 45 minutes of action.

The team also still will be without the help of its senior captain in center Veshae Asaua-Wilkinson, who has missed the past three games due to concussion-related issues. She has missed three different stretches this year and has played in only 12 of 21 games due to those concerns after competing in only two games last season after a concussion. Caha said there is no timetable right now for her return.

"The stuff we lose with both of them is ball movement. We are trying to do some stuff these past few days that allow us to keep ball movement and not get stale," Caha said. "(The point guards) have done well this week. They are trying and doing everything they can. We’ve done a lot of reviewing and defensive stuff. We will work them and try to get them as comfortable and ready as possible."